A Navy fork lift car steadies a vehicle teetering off a bridge on northbound Highway 101 on Thursday as Santa Barbara County fire fighters attach ropes and chains to pull the vehicle back onto the road near Buellton. A San Juan Capistrano woman and her two daughters were rescued from a BMW teetering on a freeway bridge after a gravel truck rear-ended the car then plunged into a creek, killing the trucker.

Paramedics rescue a girl from the scene to a CalStar medivac helicopter after firefighters rescued a mother and her two daughters from a car dangling over a bridge after a fiery crash on Highway 101. A truck driver was killed in the accident.

A doll is carried by the flight crew that accompanied the female child brought in from the scene of a CalStar medivac helicopter after firefighters rescued a mother and her two daughters from a car dangling over a bridge after a fiery crash on Highway 101. A truck driver was killed in the accident.

Firefighters rescue a San Juan Capistrano family from a car dangling over a bridge after a fiery crash on Highway 101 near Buellton. Fire crews use a US Navy SEEBEE heavy forklift to stabilize the BMW that was dangling over the side of the bridge. A mother and her two daughters were taken to the hospital.

Firefighters rescue a San Juan Capistrano family from a car dangling over a bridge after a fiery crash on Highway 101 near Buellton. Fire crews use a US Navy SEEBEE heavy forklift to stabilize the BMW that was dangling over the side of the bridge. A mother and her two daughters were taken to the hospital. A truck driver was killed in the accident.

A big rig that burned after going off a bridge on Highway 101 on Thursday lays covered with fire-extinguishing foam, near Buellton. A mother and her two daughters were stranded in their car, teetering on the edge of a freeway bridge after the truck rear-ended the car then plunged into a creek.

Firefighters rescue a San Juan Capistrano family from a car dangling precariously over a bridge after a fiery crash on Highway 101 near Buellton on Thursday. A mother and her two daughters were trapped in their car, teetering on a freeway bridge after a gravel truck rear-ended the car then plunged into a creek, killing the trucker.

Firefighters look over the remains of a car, near Buellton on Thursday. A San Juan Capistrano woman and her two daughters were rescued from a BMW teetering on a California freeway bridge after a gravel truck rear-ended the car then plunged into a creek, killing the trucker.

A female child is brought to La Cumbre junior high in by CALSTAR after firefighters rescued a mother and her two daughters from a car dangling over a bridge after a fiery crash on Highway 101. A truck driver was killed in the accident.

BUELLTON, Santa Barbara County –A San Juan Capistrano family was rescued Thursday afternoon from a car that was unsteadily dangling over a freeway overpass south of Buellton.

Firefighters removed a 10-year-old girl, a 10-week-old baby girl and a 36-year-old woman from a BMW that was hanging over the edge while lodged in the bridge railing on the northbound 101 frreeway, said authorities with the California Highway Patrol and the Santa Barbara County Fire Department.

All three were taken to Santa Barbara Cottage Hospital, the CHP said. The woman, identified as Kelli Lynne Groves, and the 10-year-old girl suffered major injuries and were flown to the hospital, the CHP said.

The 10-week-old girl was “conscious and alert” at the scene and sustained minor injuries.

The 48-year-old driver of a big-rig died at the scene of the crash, the CHP added.

The two-vehicle crash occurred at about 2:40 p.m. when the big-rig driver struck the BMW from behind on the northbound 101 near Santa Rosa Road and forced the BMW into the bridge railing, the CHP said.

Meanwhile, the big-rig went through the bridge railing and into the creek bed below and burst into flames, the CHP added.

Firefighters extinguished the fire and treated the patients, according to the Santa Barbara County Fire Department.

The santamariatimes.com described the collision as a violent one that blew out chunks of concrete guardrail on both sides of the bridge. The crash shut down both directions of the 101.

According to the news site, the rescue effort was aided by a group of Navy Seabees who were stuck in southbound traffic near the crash. They used a forklift they were transporting to stop the BMW from sliding off the bridge.

The truck spilled approximately 50 gallons of diesel fuel in the creek bottom, the fire department said.

Alejandra Molina has been a reporter since 2006 and has covered a number of beats -- from crime and transportation to religion and immigration -- for The Orange County Register and The Press-Enterprise.

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